The Newton Challenge

As a student pastor one of my main concerns and roles is to better equip parents to disciple their children. Today, I want to challenge you with something that I believe God can use to richly bless you and your entire family.

John Newton will forever be known for writing the incredible hymn Amazing Grace. Many who have studied this great man know he was passionately convicted regarding where learning about this "amazing grace" should foundationally begin...in the home.

"I think, with you, that it is very expedient and proper that reading a portion of the word of God would be ordinarily a part of our family worship; so likewise to sing a hymn or psalm, or part of one, at discretion; provided there are some people in the family who have enough of a musical ear and voice to conduct the singing in a tolerable manner; otherwise, perhaps, it may be better omitted...If you read and sin, as well as pray, care should be taken that the combined services do not run into an inconvenient length." - John Newton (1725-1807)

Numerous scriptures anchored Newton's belief: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Psalm 78:5-6, Ephesians 6:4, Proverbs 22:6, 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12, and Joshua 24:15. Various other places in Scripture point to this wonderful gift which God has entrusted parents.

Church fathers, pastors in former centuries, and theologians saw family worship as a very important priority for the family. These great preachers spoke with clarity and conviction on this subject because they possessed a great theology of family which understood and taught that parents have been commanded and blessed to be the primary disciplers of their children.

There is a great concern that very few Christian families today have an intentional plan in place to disciple their children. Blame it on schedules, sports, work, convenience, or the dog - the simple truth is that for many it is just not happening. Excuses don't hold up in this discussion. I personally believe that until parents embrace their God-given responsibility we will continue to lose this generation of children.

What if our families reclaimed this spiritual discipline? What if our families were radically connected to the Word of God? How would that change our children, church, world, and eternity. I want to equip you to begin this discipline in your own home. I want to encourage you to take The John Newton Challenge. The purpose of this challenge is to give parents a 52-week Bible reading plan that allows them to intentionally disciple their children. Hopefully, this simple reading plan will be used by parents so they can recapture a tremendous gift that God has given to each of you (parents).

Follow this link to view the reading plan. If you would like a hard copy of this reading plan, please let me know. I pray that you will take this challenge and reclaim your God-given privilege of being the primary disciplers of your student(s).

M-Fuge Day 5

Today is our last day at Fuge. It's been a long week, but a very rewarding week. God is at work in our students. Today our students will spend their last day at their ministry sites. Please pray that God will give us all strength as we serve the city of Greenville. Last night was our free night. We had a great time hanging out together at the mall. We'll be leaving Saturday morning to return to VA. Please pray for our travel safety. Here are some pictures from our free night. Thanks for all your prayers and support this week!

M-Fuge Day 4....I think

It's Thursday morning....at least I think it is. Fuge is AWESOME! Our students have been challenged every night by our camp pastor. Last night we had a great church group devotion time. We talked about what it would look like if all of our students "took off their masks" and stopped pretending. We talked about what it would be like if we all stopped trying to see what we can "get away with" in terms of our walk with Christ. (This was all based on Acts 5 and how Ananias and Sapphira tried to put on a show for the early church, by pretending to give all the money from the land to God.) These questions about what the church would be like if we all stopped pretending, if we all stopped wearing fake pious masks, if we all stopped trying to see what we can get away with in our walk with Christ...these are questions that must be answered by the church as a whole, not just our students. So I want to challenge you all today...stop wearing a mask. Stop pretending that you have it all together. Lay aside your pride and walk in humility before God and before His church. God is moving in our students and we're excited about sharing with you all when we return. Here are some more pictures from yesterday....(If you look closely you'll see Ashley on stage participating in the superfabulous game show last night)

M-Fuge Day 2 and 3

Hello everyone....

Sorry about not posting yesterday. The internet has been down here since the storm on Monday night. Thank God for His providence. A severe thunderstorm with winds exceeding 60 mph struck North Greenville on Monday night. It took the roof off of the administration building which was just 160 feet away from the building we were worshipping in. No one was injured. We're having a great time. Here are some pictures from Monday and Tuesday. I'll try to post some more later this week. Please continue to keep our students in your prayers as they serve this week.

M-Fuge...Day 1

We're here....finally. Actually the drive to Greenville, SC was not nearly as bad as the drive to Nashville, TN last year. (6 hours instead of 13) Everyone is having a great time. We get assigned to our ministry teams tonight in our first worship session. Please continue to pray for our students as we serve the Lord and the city of Greenville this week. I will be posting pictures as the week continues. Thanks for your prayers!

30 Hour Famine

Great job at the 30 Hour Famine. You raised close to $500 to fight world hunger! You collected over 60 non-perishable food items to help feed the hungry in our community! You helped sort clothes at the goodwill! I'm proud to be your youth pastor! Keep loving the world like Jesus!

Events and Details for March & April

So you can "be in the know"...here are some details about what's coming up in March & April:

March 15: Teen Night @ First Cup Coffeehouse 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Open Mic, Games, Great Coffee & Smoothies...

March 16: $40 M-Fuge payment due

March 24-28: Spring Break

April 19: You and Your Girl Mother-Daughter Conference. E-mail Jason for more details.

April 19: Father-Son Activity. E-mail Jason for more details.

April 20: $40 M-Fuge payment due.

April 25-27: Missions Conference @ EBC featuring the Light Singers from Liberty University. You don't want to miss this weekend. It could be life changing!

V-Day Banquet '08

Thanks to everyone who made the Valentine Banquet a huge success. You all did a great job serving our church. Enjoy the photos!